Classical Mediterranean

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Classical Mediterranean
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Mediterranean Traditions

• Persian
• Greek / Hellenistic
• Roman

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Persian Empire (Achaemenid)550 BCE - 330 BCE

• Established by Cyrus the Great, great King
  Darius, capital at Persepolis
• Modern day Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan regions
• Neighbor and rival of Greek city states (Persian
  wars 500-450 BCE)
• Political Styles
• Tolerance for other cultures
• Authoritarianism
• Infrastructure, especially roads
• Bureaucracy
• Advanced iron technology
• Unique artistic style
• Zoroastrianism
• Overthrown by Alexander the Great
• Later Sassanid Empire (227 CE 600s CE) during
  Roman period preserves Persian culture

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The Persian Empire
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Zoroastrianism

• Monotheistic religion (the first? Judaism 1200s
  BCE)
• Emerged as early as 1700 BCE, codified by
  Zoroaster/Zarathustra (c. 630-550 BCE)
• Gathas sacred literature
• Ahuramazda creator and benevolent deity
• Angra Mainyu (evil spirit)
• Magi religious priests
• Cosmic struggle between good and evil, humanity
  punished or rewarded in afterlife for their
  actions
• Religious justification for political rule
  (somewhat similar to Mandate of Heaven)

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Civilization in Mediterranean Region

• Greeks began with city-states due to geography
  (mountains coast)
• Oceanic trade on Mediterranean Sea connected the
  region
• Both Greece and Rome created empires based on
  conquest..

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Greece

• Phoenecian cultural influences (alphabet,
  seafaring)
• Mycenaen Kingdom (1400 BCE)
• Culture preserved in Homers epics Iliad
  Odyssey
• Greek city-states (polis) develop 800-600 BCE
• Mountains coastlines help fragment Greece
  prevent political unity
• Trade, commerce, and connections b/n city-states
  helps develop a common Greek culture (similar
  language, alphabet, religion, customs, Olympic
  Games, etc.)

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Sparta vs- Athens

• Sparta military aristocracy conquers and
  controls neighboring regions (slavery)
• Athens commercial, diverse, also used slaves,
  artistic and intellectual achievements, limited
  democracy allowed adult male citizens to select
  officials and pass laws (Pericles 400s BCE)
• Persian wars (common enemy) 500s-450 BCE
• Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE) b/n Athens and
  Sparta

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Greece and Greek Colonies,c. 431 B.C.E.
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The Hellenistic Period

• Phillip II of the northern kingdom of Macedon
  conquered Athens and Sparta and gained control of
  the Greek peninsula (330s BCE)
• His son Alexander (the Great) extended the
  empire as far as the borders of India
• Alexander died young and his empire was divided
  into several Hellenistic Kingdoms for the next
  few centuries.
• Greek culture spread throughout the Mediterranean
  world and Middle East during this Hellenistic
  Era

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Alexanders Empire and the Hellenistic World, c.
323 B.C.E.
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Greek (Hellenistic) Civilization in
Mediterranean, 240 BCE
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Patterns of Greek and Roman History

• Rome
• Roman Republic from 509 B.C.E.
• Military emphasis
• Punic Wars, against Carthage (264-146 B.C.E.)
• Empire
• Julius Caesar victory over rivals, 45 B.C.E.
• Augustus Caesar, rules from 27 B.C.E.
• Empire strong to about 180 C.E.
• Renewed vigor under Diocletian, Constantine

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Greek and Roman Political Institutions

• Greece The Polis
• Athens - direct democracy the assembly
• Lottery for positions
• Citizen body a minority of the population
• Most city states were oligarchies
• Aristocratic assemblies
• Sparta

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Greek and Roman Political Institutions

• Rome
• Balance
• Senate dominated by aristocrats
• Consuls
• Dictator

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Greek and Roman Political Institutions

• Political Theory in Ancient Greece and Rome
• Duties of citizens, political ethics, oratory
• Participation stressed
• Comparison of the merits of different forms
• Romans developed law code
• Twelve Tables, by 450 B.C.E.
• Law comes to take the place of fathers
• Spread of code to empire, and citizenship

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Greek and Roman Political Institutions

• Roles of Government
• Public works
• Help to unite empire
• Maintaining law courts, police power
• Official religion

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Religion and Culture

• Religious Values
• Religion largely concerned with the here and now
• Mystery religions offered a more spiritual
  approach
• Division between elite and popular belief

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Religion and Culture

• Philosophy
• Provided a system of ethical behavior
• Aristotle, Cicero
• Stressed balance
• Stoics stress inner life

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Religion and Culture

• Science and Philosophy
• Socrates encouraged questioning
• Speculation on the physical world
• Theories about the universe, the nature of matter
• Mathematics, especially geometry
• Hellenistic period
• More empirical work in physics
• Euclid, Galen

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Religion and Culture

• The Arts
• Drama comedy and tragedy
• Balance between virtue and emotions
• Sophocles Oedipus the King
• Epics, the Iliad, Odyssey
• Architecture
• Roman engineering

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Economy and Society in the Mediterranean

• Agriculture and Trade
• Constant trend to market farming
• Led to trade
• Grain from Egypt
• Merchants
• Officially, legally respected
• Not socially esteemed

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Economy and Society in the Mediterranean

• Slavery
• From conquest
• Becomes a motive for expansion
• Technological innovation in farming lacking
• Unfavorable trade balance with eastern Asia

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Economy and Society in the Mediterranean

• Family
• Patriarchal
• Women have economic role
• Some women active in commerce
• Women could own property

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A Complex Legacy

• What Survived?
• Enduring ideas
• No polities
• Direct and indirect
• Consciously imitated, revived
• Mingled with Middle Eastern legacy

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Global Connections Persia, Greece, Rome, and the
World

• Persia
• Maintained contact between East and West
• Greece
• Traders, expansionist
• Alexander the Great
• New contacts between Mediterranean, Persia, India
• Rome
• Variety of contacts

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• Detailed info on Roman politics

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Roman Republic Constitution

• Roman nobility established a republic in 509 BCE
• Built Roman Forum political and civic center
• Republican constitution
• Executive responsibilities in 2 Consuls
• Held civil military power
• Consuls elected by assembly of aristocrats
  (patricians)
• Senate of aristocrats advised Consuls ratified
  decision
• Most prominent political military leaders
• Largely controlled Roman public affairs
• Mostly served interests of the wealthy
• Plebians (commoners) objected gt class conflict
• Plebians given more rights in 5th 4th BCE
• Patricians still dominated Rome
• Dictator wielded absolute power for 6 months if
  military crisis

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Expansion of the Republic

• Rome surrounded by invaders
• Rome first established a large regional state in
  Italy
• Roman control of entire Italian peninsula (4th
  century BCE)
• Established military colonies
• Generous policies toward conquered peoples
• Taxes, local rule, and trade were established
• Conflict and conquest in larger Mediterranean
• Punic wars with Carthaginians (N. Africa)
• Destroyed Carthage, took slaves, took stuff
• Conflict with Greeks
• 5 major wars
• Controlled most of the Med. By 2nd BCE

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The Failure of the Republic

• Warfare and territorial expansion undermined the
  foundations of the Roman Republic
• Wealth and power were increasingly concentrated
  in the hands of the upper classes, resulting in
  the decline of the peasant farmer / soldier
  class.
• The military became increasingly loyal to their
  commanders, as opposed to the Senate.
• Some of these generals used their armies to
  increase their own personal power and wealth, at
  the expense of the state.

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The Formation of the Roman Empire

• By 31 BCE, Octavian (heir of Julius Caesar), had
  eliminated all rivals and seized power.
• Known as Augustus, he was the first of the Roman
  Emperors.
• Subtly concentrated power in his hands, while
  maintaining the appearance of the Republic.
• Allied himself with the Equities the second
  most powerful group below the Senatorial class.

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Roman Civilization
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